In the leadup to the release of At the Heart of Ruin on the 22nd of October (accompanied by the Ruinous Supporter Pack), we’ve already talked about new mechanics and features, like the updated throw-out or Exploration Encounters, but we thought it’s also time to touch upon the narrative and graphic art side of things.

This week we’re keen to discuss one of the newest and most exciting features we’re adding to the upcoming expansion of Vagrus: Exploration Encounters.

How They Came To Be

While it would not be entirely truthful to say that the game’s development has always followed a carefully curated path, it is not exaggeration to mention that our imaginations have run boundless thanks to that, leading to a myriad of ideas and, occasionally, feature creep. We have, however, always felt that more Events to cover simpler matters – mining salt, random encounters, or procuring scrap, for example – would have a place in the game, even if their creation may not be the best use of our writers’ time.

It’s not often that a post introduces two important, named characters, but today is one such day, since both Kharandar and Dralla will be integral figures in our coming expansion.

First off, there’s Kharandar – a man of action and intent. A stalwart, even noble, leader. He is the one who speaks in the expansion’s trailer. Those who follow him trust his decisions and instincts above all others. They know that when push comes to shove, Kharandar will be there, calling the shots for everyone’s benefit.

Every week brings us a step closer to the release of our At the Heart of Ruin Expansion, and this week, we’d like to progress in a similar vein to last week’s post – we’re going to continue talking about Dwarves!

In the long lead-up to the release of our At the Heart of Ruin expansion, we’ve spoken at length about Dvendar Tharr and the perils there – the horrifying creatures, the utterly inhospitable weather, and the countless other hazards that await the bold who venture there. Most denizens of the Riven Realms know the realm of Dvendarr Tharr to be largely uninhabitable.

Today we’d like to introduce one of our upcoming additions to Vagrus, the Ruinous Supporter Pack DLC, a small cosmetic package that gives you Companion skins for supporting Lost Pilgrims. Our art team has been hard at work on it for some time now, and we’re excited to share the cosmetics in more detail soon. You can find its store page here, where all the cosmetics in the pack will appear soon, and you can wishlist the pack for the time being.

In the northern reaches of Varnurud, a cavern exists that is dedicated to the memory of a Dwarf and his life’s work. That Dwarf was called Kahrav, and in many ways, it was his deeds – and words, written as they sometimes were – that brought about the founding of the Sons of the Mountain, one of Varnurud’s most dominant and prolific gangs. Known for their veneration of a long-lost Dwarven legacy that they have laid claim to, the Sons have also painted their home to commemorate such Dwarves, perhaps fittingly. Although they may lack the… artistic direction to truly pull it off.

What makes a great set of stairs, you might ask? Well, that’s a tough question, we say. In our At the Heart of Ruin expansion, there are many sets of great stairs, but only one is called the Great Stairs – at least that’s what the locals would say. Whether those locals are bloodletting miscreants who worship an unknown entity that demands depraved sacrifice, madmen who delight in the act of burning themselves and others alive, or men who believe themselves to be beasts after discovering a dead Wyvern that they thought was a divine creature of the skies, that’s what they would say. There are other… more cultured locals, of course – even ones that’ll talk to you – but they each share a different brand of insanity. Enjoy, we say.

Patch 1.2100717/21 Codename: Dead Weight(less)

Performance Improvements

• We optimized the sizes of several art assets, resulting in smaller install size and a bit quicker load times.
• Slight Companion Combat performance improvement against certain enemies

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a rare issue that caused summoned/spawned Companion Combat entities to remain permanently in your comitatus (no more parasitic Deadweight!).
• Fixed an issue that caused Equipment drag&drop to drag the wrong piece of Equipment.
• Fixed an issue that misaligned Gear icons with names in their list on the Character Sheet.
• Fixed an issue that prevented loading save files in Dissonance mode.
• General controller-related improvements based on your Discord feedback.

As ever, more is coming, so stay tuned, and conquer the wasteland!

Today we have another teaser for you in the form of character art – an essential component of our upcoming At the Heart of Ruin expansion, where many new humanoids, beasts, creatures, and anomalies are set to be introduced. And yet, this one is hardly ostentatious; it does not aim to dazzle or inspire fear, but simply to show you one of the various factions of authority that exist in Scrapheap, the focal point of many coming adventures.